The Barefoot Kid

Hi Scott,

I am so proud of our three-year-old! Scarlett saved up her pocket money from doing her ‘jobs’. We took her to our local tip shop and she selected a second-hand bike for $5 (see picture). She’s a Barefoot Kid!

Emilie

Hi Emilie,

That’s awesome! As a fellow parent of a three-year-old, I can attest that there’s something amazing that happens when they work hard, save up and buy their own stuff. I love hearing stories from families who’ve read the book. Now it's time to hit the schools as well.

Thank-you for reading, and sharing.

Scott

Here's One For The Teachers

I looked at my bedside clock: 4:03 am.

It was Monday night (actually, Tuesday morning), and I hadn’t slept a wink.

Earlier in the week I’d launched the Barefoot Money Movement ‒ my free, independent, money school program.

I’d made my case that this country needs a financial revolution, and that it needs to start with our kids.

I pressed ‘Send’ on my column … and waited.

(I made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t check the results for 48 hours … a classic ego defence mechanism.)

Would anyone sign up to pilot my money-education-minus-the-bank-mascots school program?

A few hours later I rolled out of bed and nervously checked the stats on barefootmoneymovement.org.au

It turns out people did sign up.

By the thousands.

Teachers from every nook and cranny of this country have joined the Money Movement to ensure that their students learn the life changing lessons most of us didn’t.

Fair dinkum!

There were teachers from Melbourne. From the Cocos Islands. From America. From the UK. From Uganda. From … Russia?

Anyway, I’m absolutely blown away by the response from teachers.

So everything’s ready to go for my new program, right?

Wrong.

There's just one little problem … I’ve spent the past week talking to passionate, hard-working Aussie teachers. And the one thing I’ve heard over and over again is that it’s incredibly hard to teach kids this core life skill if you’ve never learnt it or lived it yourself.

Teachers have one of society’s most important jobs, yet they don’t get paid what they’re worth.

So, here’s my promise:

Teacher Professional Development

Next year, I’ll deliver some free online professional development for those teachers who join the Barefootmoneymovement.org.au

And I’m taking this Money Movement to the top. I caught up with Education Minister, Dan Tehan during the week ‒ who I have been pitching this idea to for a while ‒ and told him that the seeds of our grassroots movement are starting to sprout. And he’s on side, commenting that “Scott Pape’s campaign to teach young Australians the importance of managing money is highly commendable”.

Finally, a big thank-you to all the teachers and principals who’ve already signed up to the Barefoot Money Movement. And if you know of a teacher who could benefit from this, please do me a personal favour and forward this on to them.

Tread Your Own Path!

Barefoot’s Money Movement

Do you want me to come to your school … and teach your kids about money?

Well, if you’re a teacher, a parent or a principal, this may be the most important column of mine you’ve ever read.

For years I’ve been saying this country needs a financial revolution ... and that it needs to start with our kids.

Kids spend roughly 2,400 days in school, yet not one of them is mandatorily dedicated to learning the practical money skills they’ll be tested on every day of their lives.

Most of us didn’t get taught this stuff either, and instead we learned our lessons the hard way. (And many of us are still learning ... given Australian families are shouldering some of the highest rates of household debt in the world.)

Our kids deserve better.

So let me tell you about my latest project, which I’m kicking off today:

‘Barefoot’s Money Movement’

My motto is: ‘Teach the Kids. Help the Parents. Change the Nation.’

And that’s exactly what I’m setting out to do.

I’ve created a brand-new school money education program for kids of all ages, based on my bestselling books.

It’s totally practical for the kids. It’s ‘plug and play’ for the teachers. And it’s mapped to the curriculum.

Oh, and it’s free, independent (no Dollarmites in sight), and totally not-for-profit.

Now my long-term goal is to roll the program out to every school in Australia. Yet to prove it works ‒ and to make it even better ‒ I’m going to pilot my classes in a small number of primary schools and high schools this year. This is a really big deal for me, and I’m going to work closely with each school I select.  

So if you’re a teacher, I really need your help.

To join the movement, go here:

barefootmoneymovement.org.au

And if you know a passionate teacher, please forward this email to them.

This is a grassroots movement, and I can’t do it without you.

Tread Your Own Path!

You Made Me Cry

You made me cry today. My 90-year-old mum had her purse stolen at the local shopping centre. When I told my seven-year-old, he immediately made her a card, put in all the money from his three jars, and gave it to his grandma. I am so proud of him. Thank you.

Melanie

Melanie,

What a great kid you have!

My biggest fear is that my kids will grow up to become entitled brats.

That’s why the ‘Money Movement’ program I’ve created for primary school kids is all about Jam Jars. The Jam Jars give the kids (and their parents) the behavioural building blocks that will shape the rest of their lives: to be hard workers, smart spenders, savvy savers, and generous givers.

The final lesson of the program has the kids brainstorming ideas of who they can help in their local community, and then donating the money in their class ‘Give’ jar.

A Cambridge University study found that adult money habits start to become fixed by age seven!

It makes sense when you think about it: as the Jesuits say, “Show me the boy at seven, and I’ll show you the man”.

Well done.

Scott

Would You Like a Credit Card With that?

Hi Scott,

My 19-year-old daughter just started a job at David Jones. To my horror, one of her KPIs is to sell the David Jones credit card to customers. In fact staff are incentivised $75 for every customer they sign up. There is a lot of pressure on her to meet this KPI, and we both feel very uncomfortable with this. I would be interested in your thoughts on this practice.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

Would you like a credit card with that?!

Seems the beancounters at David Jones have worked out there’s potentially more money to be made flogging debt than designer duds:

The David Jones American Express Platinum Card has an interest rate of 20.74% on purchases, and a ‘competitive annual card fee of $295’.

(They seriously think that’s competitive? Who the hell are they competing with? Cash Converters?)

Anyway, this is exactly why I’m starting ‘Barefoot’s Money Movement’

Debt has been sold to us so relentlessly, so forcefully and so underhandedly that we’ve become desensitised to it.

Look, I’m not saying that DJs shouldn’t be allowed to sell debt, or that your daughter is wrong for following orders.

(That being said, if she feels uncomfortable about it, that’s a very, very good sign. Encourage her to trust her gut and her ethics. That’s a proud parent moment right there.)

What I am saying is that I’m sure as hell going to do everything I can to make sure kids coming out of school see the trap before they get upsold into the merry-go-round of misery. And in the next few weeks I’m back to my old school (in Ouyen, Victoria) to blend up some credit cards in the classroom!

True dinks!

Scott

The School Chaplain

Hi Scott,

I know you have already had lots of positive support, but I couldn’t agree more with the priest who sent you encouraging words last week. I am a School Chaplain. The other day, a few 16-year-old students were asking me about jobs they could make a lot of money from. I told them it was probably more important they learnt what to do with the money they did earn, and then recommended your book. I was amazed when one of them turned up the next day with the book. Coincidentally the department’s network went down that day and this boy was sitting in his IT class with a teacher who couldn’t really teach IT without a network connection. Out comes the Barefoot Investor book, and the young teacher (who loves your work too) starts taking the class through some of the principles. It got me thinking ‒ how do you think it best to bring your Barefoot principles into a classroom?

Glen

Thanks Glen,

I donated a copy of my book to every school library in the country, so I’m glad they’re being read!

As for getting these money principles into schools, I’d really encourage you, and anyone else reading this, to head over to barefootmoneymovement.org.au and apply for our pilot program!

Scott

A Burglar Stole My Daughter’s Jam Jars

Hi Scott

A burglar stole money from my daughter Linda’s jam jars and wallet! Since September 2018, 10-year-old Linda has been working hard and getting pocket money, which she’s divided into her three labelled jam jars. Yesterday a thief came into our house and stole the lot. Last week looked good: $8 in ‘Save’ (we’d banked most of, thank god!), $6 in ‘Give’, and $90 in ‘Splurge’ -- she was saving for a phone and her wallet contained $39. Now she has no money and is disappointed. We’ve reported it to the police. Should I replace the stolen money, because I can, and I empathise with her? Or do I put it down to life experience?

Jenny

Hi Jenny,

Please do me a favour and read this letter to your daughter:

Dear Linda,

It’s Scott Pape here, the bloke who wrote the book about Jam Jars.

Your mum told me about what happened with your money. I’m really sorry about that.

The person who took your money was probably very sad, and very frightened -- and I’m sure they feel really bad about doing the wrong thing. I’m also sure that the police will catch them.

What you need to know is that most people are good, and kind. Even people you’ve never met.

After reading your mum’s letter, I went to my own ‘Give’ jar and realised that I had enough money to replace all the coins that were in your jars. So I sent the money to your mum, and she will give it to you!

What’s cool about the ‘Give’ jar is that you get to be a hero by helping someone.

Yet the real secret is that you not only make someone else happy, you make yourself happy too!

You Got This!

Scott

Don’t Send Kids to the Coalmine, Barefoot

Hey Scott,

I just wanted to comment on your response last week to the letter from Alice the 15-year-old asking if she should get a part-time job. Could you please recommend that high school students work no more than 12 hours per week, unless they are happy to take a nose-dive in their education! Up to 12 hours per week can help them with time management and all your other points. But not more. And I know what I’m talking about: I am a teacher who sees the results of overworked students!

Cheryl

Hi Cheryl,

I agree with you ‒ a few shifts on the weekend is more than enough. Really, you just want to get kids off their phones and work for a boss who will knock the ‘special snowflake’ out of them.

And here’s a tip for all those tired parents, which I call the ‘taxi rank’: shortlist the youth-friendly employers that are close to your home or the school. Think shopping malls, supermarkets, fast food joints and small businesses that you’re happy to taxi them to and from. Because you will!

Scott

Blow the Whistle

Hi Scott,

I’m 15 years old and do not have regular work, though I do umpire netball in the winter months, which earns me about $15 a game. I’ve just started Year 10 and will have a lot on my plate school-wise, and do not want my studies to suffer. Would you suggest I get a part-time job, or just keep up the casual netball work?

Alice

Hi Alice,

Good on you for (a) taking interest in sport, (b) earning some money out of it, and (c) emailing the Barefoot Investor for financial advice while you’re still in high school ‒ you’re awesome!

Yet I still want you to get a part-time job.

I view a part-time job as one of the most important ‘real life’ high school classes you can take.

Seriously, how else do you get the experience of selling yourself in an interview, working in a team, taking orders from a boss, and learning about setting up bank accounts, paying tax and eventually investing super?

Your parents should pay Ronnie McDonnie for the educational experience! Besides, you only need to do a few shifts a week, so it won’t interfere with your studies, and you can pare it back when you get into your final years of school.

Good luck!

Scott

My experience with dumpster diving

There have been a couple of times in my career that I’ve come across a subculture.

The first was right back when I began: people who would write to me about my … feet. Yep, that’s a thing. Some people get their socks off looking at bare feet in the newspaper.

The other was a few weeks ago when I got a question from uni student Tim, who said he ‘dumpster dived’ for food.

I thought he was joking … yet little did I know that I was myself about to get binned like a bent banana.

The email responses came in like two-day-old loaves of bread:

“Dude, you don’t know what dumpster diving is? I earn $180,000 a year, and yet on my days off I go to the local Woolies bin around midnight for all the eggs, bread, pink milk (not expired), and slightly spoiled but still good fruit and veges.” (This person signed off as ‘Dumpster Diving Till I Die’, which may be tempting fate.)

As I dived into the subject, I discovered that the devotees of this movement even have a name: ‘freegans’.

Yet my favourite freegan was Benjamin, aka ‘Binjamin the Raccoon’, who wrote: “I live almost entirely out of rescued food from the bin (plus some home-grown veg). Every day, I systematically take all the food from two dumpsters and distribute it out to feed probably 20 struggling families per week, as well as bread for farmers’ livestock.”

Okay, so that’s actually pretty cool.

So this week I grabbed my five-year-old son and we went dumpster diving at the back of an inner city KFC — “It’s finger-lickin’ good, mate!”

Okay, so we didn’t do that. (My wife doesn’t allow us to eat KFC, let alone from a dumpster.)

Yet we did go on a father-son trip to Australia’s largest hunger relief not-for-profit, Foodbank, who each month help feed over 700,000 Aussies.

The reason I had my son come along was twofold: first, he loves factories, forklifts and donning high-vis vests. Yet, more importantly, it was also my first step in a long journey to making sure he doesn’t become an entitled brat.

And Foodbank is an awesome way to teach kids one of the fundamental keys to happiness: generosity.

See, the hidden crisis in this country is that one in five kids live in ‘food insecure’ households.

No, it’s true.That explains why in Victoria they are expanding the ‘Breakfast Club’ program to be in 1,000 schools.On our way to the factory I asked my son if he remembered what it feels like to be hungry.

“Yes, it’s hard to think, and I get angry because I have a sore tummy”, he said.

“Well chances are that some of your classmates arrive at school with those tummy rumbles. You can’t see it, of course, and your mates may be too embarrassed to talk about it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening”, I said.

Then I explained that he could help these kids by buying food, and having Foodbank deliver it.

It was like seeing a lightbulb go off in his little head: he got it.

Even better, he’d brought along his Give jar and proudly gave some of his pocket money.

Now that’s a subculture I’m proud to be part of.

Tread Your Own Path!

Australian Scholarships Group Made Me Cry

Thanks for warning people last week about ASG. I wasn’t surprised you don’t recommend them. My husband and I had our first baby quite young (21) and at the time went to a baby expo to check out all the latest things. We wrote our names down for a ‘competition’, only to start receiving calls from ASG. We somehow got talking and then a guy came out to my mum’s house (where we were living while saving money) to talk to us about it. We said we could not afford it but might look into it later.

Anyway, the guy started calling me every day, then a couple of times a day. I ignored the calls, but then he called me 45 times in one hour! I was bawling my eyes out, so my husband called the head office and told them he would call the police if we were contacted again. It was horrible. I have told anyone who has ever mentioned them since to never go near them.

Justine

Justine

Hi Justine

He called you 45 times in an hour? That is intense. He really wanted that commission! This sales culture is why I’ve been so hard on ASG … here’s hoping the new CEO (who I interviewed for last week’s column) cleans up their act.

Scott

Honouring My Husband’s Legacy

Scott,

My husband passed away on New Year’s Day at the age of 37. I am 26 years old and for the past four years he and I have had full-time care of his daughter. The day before he passed, we listened to your audiobook. He was so excited to make the changes and had his ‘alpaca attitude’ on. Unfortunately, he did not have a will, and had eight super accounts. I am heartbroken but somehow need to sort this out. Any advice on where to go from here?

Lisa

Hi Lisa,

I am so sorry for your loss.

The most important thing to do right now is look after yourself and your step-daughter.

The admin that’s required after someone dies can be overwhelming … especially when you’re grieving. So the best thing you can do is find someone (like a good friend or a trusted advisor) who can help you with it.

Your husband has died without a will (this is called dying ‘intestate’). You’ll need to apply for letters of administration. An administrator will then be appointed and your husband’s estate will be distributed based on a predetermined formula.

As for super, you’ll need to contact each of his super funds and ask what’s required to receive the ‘death benefit’ payment, which will be a combination of his final balance and any insurance held at the time of his death.

Finally, when you start to get on top of things follow the Barefoot Steps with all the ‘Alpaca Attitude’ you can muster.

You got this.

Scott

Top of the Class

Hey Scott,

I was indoctrinated into the ‘Barefoot cult’ around Easter this year, and it has changed my life. I am a business studies teacher in a low socio-economic high school in Brisbane’s south and, since reading your book, have been going on about it to my class. I kept on answering the students’ questions … until I decided to purchase a copy for each of them. When I gave them the books, they high-fived each other and said “This is going to change our lives!” I have cleaned out one Big W store and am making my way round the others. Thank you!

Kim

Hi Kim,

Teenagers? High fiving each other, about something other than a student free day?

You’re using the force, sister!

Without knowing it, you’ve just completed the money class I’m trialling in schools:

Step 1: Is to teach the teachers, so they can lift their own financial confidence. (It’d be pretty hard to talk to a bunch of kids about the dangers of credit cards when you have credit card debt yourself!)

Step 2: Is to teach the kids.

Step 3: Is to encourage the kids go home and share what they’ve learnt with their parents.

My motto is: if you help the kids, you help the parents. And if you help the parents, you change the nation.

Thanks for your support!

Scott

25 days of disappointment

Let me tell you about how, a few years ago, I created a family Christmas tradition …

… which has caused me nothing but stress, and given my kids 25 days of disappointment.

It began one day in Aldi, as disappointment often does.

I had the choice between buying an advent calendar for $12, or 25 small ‘stockings on a string’ for $5.

Guess which one the Barefoot Investor chose?

Now, given stockings on a string aren’t as intuitive as opening a calendar each day, I concocted a complicated backstory that involved elves coming to the farm each night and leaving a gift in a little numbered stocking to help the kids count down to Christmas.

Father of the year, right?

Wrong.

There’s always at least one night I forget, meaning I have to explain to our lip-quivering kids the next morning why the elves didn’t come. Slightly better, one morning I bolted upright in bed as I heard the kids stirring, raced down the hall, and stuffed something in the stocking:

“Dad, the elves gave us … a AAA battery?”

“They’re smart, those elves. You never know when you’ll need a battery … like for the TV remote”, said the worst father in the world.

Ho! Ho! D’Oh!

Christmas may be known as the time for ‘giving’, but to most school-aged kids it’s really a time for ‘getting’:

A survey by News Limited earlier this month found that an overwhelming majority of parents (76%) say their kids have higher expectations of what Christmas presents they’ll receive compared to when they were kids.

Yet expectation is one reindeer down from entitlement.

So while ‘25 days of disappointment’ is a family Christmas tradition I’ve created, it’s not the only one.

Throughout the year my kids follow the Barefoot ‘3, 3, 3’ rule of pocket money. (Three weekly jobs, dished into three jam jars marked ‘Splurge’, ‘Smile’ and ‘Give’, checked off each Sunday night in three minutes.)

And the most important money jar at this time of the year — when we’re being undermined by fat men in red suits, and bombarded with advertising — is the Give Jar.

This simple little pocket money system has helped us create a new family legend: our family helps people in our community who are doing it tough at Christmas. That’s what we do … that’s who we are. We’re givers and it feels great.

Now that is a Christmas family tradition that will breed happiness and kindness.

Tread Your Own Path!

19-Year-Old Girl Wins the Lottery

Hi Scott,

I am 19 and was given your book last Christmas. I am not the greatest saver — I like to splurge a little too often. Yet a year after reading the book I have over $16,000 in savings, $4,000 of which is in shares. Recently I did my tax return and the accountant was asking how a 19-year-old girl seems to have it so together. I explained that she could buy your book for $29.95 (or less at Big W), and while she was doing my tax return I drew your ‘serviette strategy’ on the back of an invoice sheet. She looked at me in amazement the entire time, even though I was basically regurgitating everything you had explained. It was an awesome feeling. So I wanted to say thank you — you have given me a $29.95 lottery ticket that has earned me thousands!

Zoe

Hi Zoe,

I’m punching the air as I’m reading this.

Most people leave school believing they have no idea about money, and then they prove it to themselves.

Not you!

I guarantee your accountant was thinking, “Why wasn’t I this sorted out when I was 19?”

(As are everyone reading this right now.)

Well done. You got this!

Scott

Don’t Raise a Tightarse

Hi Scott,

Loving your new book, but I have a question. If a child does not want to spend their accumulated ‘Splurge’ money, isn’t that effectively another form of savings? I am trying to identify the more important lesson. Is it the realisation through experience that splurging can result in the impulse buying of random, insignificant items or should it be rewarding the decision not to splurge at times and having that money to top up their savings?

Joanne

Hi Joanne,

Congratulations on doing the jam jars!

You’re well ahead of most parents, who do pocket money for a while and then let it fizzle out, and give up.

Getting your kids to dish their pocket money into three jars teaches fundamental life lessons:

The ‘Smile’ jar teaches them the power of saving up for something that makes them smile.

The ‘Give’ jar teaches them the joy of generosity, and breaks the entitled bratty mentality some kids have.

The ‘Splurge’ jar teaches them how to spend their money wisely and enjoy it.

(The biggest financial fear that I have for my kids — having the Barefoot Investor as their dad — is they’ll be so focused on money that they’ll become tightarses. I don’t want to raise stingy, money-hungry kids. There’s a fine line between “8-year-old Johnny’s such a good saver, he won’t spend a cent!” and “28-year-old John is such a tightarse, no wonder he doesn’t have a girlfriend”).

So, Joanne, I’d encourage your kids to splurge some of their money. Yes, they’ll make some mistakes, as we all do. But then again, that’s how we learn, right?

Scott

‘You need sleeping pills’, said my doctor

The Three Exams

Years ago, when I was cramming for my final VCE exams, I went to see my doctor.

I confessed to the old quack that I was stressed — wound up like a lacker band — and was having trouble sleeping.

He just started chuckling, and then pulled out his prescription pad:

“You need sleeping pills”, he said matter-of-factly.

Now, in hindsight, that was very bad advice.

Those pills were like horse tranquilisers. The first time I took one, I woke up 10 hours later with my face superglued to my textbook by my own drool. And to counteract the fogginess I began scoffing No-Doz caffeine tablets (one down from speed, one up from Red Bull). Seriously, my final year of school was like Charlie Sheen’s final season of Two and a Half Men.

Still, the good doctor gave me some wise advice that I’ve never forgotten:

“These high school exams aren’t nearly as important as you think. You’ll have much bigger ones in the future.”

The doc was dead right.

It was only as I got older that I realised that the really important exams ‒ the ones that will change your life forever ‒ don’t have a date, a time, or a room number. (And because of that, most people not only don’t study for them … they snooze through them, again and again.)

And given students across the country are sitting down to do their final exams this week, I thought I’d take you through them. The first life exam is finding a career you enjoy. The second, is to choose to become financially secure. The third, to invest in your family and friends. You’ll sit these three exams over the next decade (and beyond). Here’s how to ace them.

Your Career

The average Aussie teenager will have 17 different jobs, and five careers, in their lifetime, according to the Foundation for Young Australians.

Fair dinkum!

My first job out of uni was working on building sites with a joker called ‘Wolfy’ … who would (unsuccessfully) wolf-whistle at women who walked by. (True story: the day the Australian Stock Exchange called to tell me I’d secured a graduate position, I thought it was old Wolfy playing a trick on me, so I told them to bugger off.)

Anyway, while it’s very important to sidestep the working wolves, you don’t want to keep changing career like Australia changes prime ministers. Otherwise, you’ll never make a dent in the universe.

The smartest method I’ve found to think about such an overwhelming topic (what do I want to be when I grow up?) is to set aside an afternoon and do a thinking exercise that author Arun Abey calls ‘the three circles’:

“What am I deeply interested in?”

“How can I work, over many years, to become truly great at it?”

“How can I make enough money from doing it?”

Your killer career is found at the intersection of these three circles.

Your Financial Security

There are trophy degrees that will guarantee you a good income: medicine, engineering, finance, law. However, there’s no guarantee you’ll turn that good income into long-term wealth, and it’s certainly no guarantee that you won’t end up being ‘completely disengaged with your job’, as 70% of Australians apparently are, according to Gallup research.

Yet committing to being financially strong ‒ no matter what level your income ‒ will change the course of your life.
You’ll sit some form of this exam many times over your life: it starts the moment you get the letter from your bank saying “Congratulations, here’s your credit card!”, or when your employer automatically enrols you into their default high fee super fund.

The solution is to tell the bank you don’t do credit cards. And to tell your boss to put your super into a a low-cost super fund you’ve chosen yourself — then tick the ‘high growth option’ and let compound interest work its magic.

I like to think of compound interest like I do surfing. You put in a bit of effort paddling at the start, but when you catch a giant wave it carries you along without any effort. Which means that, instead of mucking around in the slushy waves later on in life, you get to lean back enjoy the ride.

Your Family and Friends

I’m totally unqualified to offer this advice, but I’ll give it anyway.

When you’re a teenager you think your friends will be around forever, because they always have been. However, unless you make a point of investing time in your friends, they’ll slowly drop away.

What does this have to do with money? Nothing. But it has everything to do with your long-term happiness. Wellbeing studies show that the happiest people are those with strong social bonds. Investing in your relationships, (especially your family) has the biggest payoff of all.

So there you have it. Sit these three exams and you may not receive a certificate in the mail, or attend a fancy ceremony when you ‘pass’ them. Yet the payoff is real. Because you won’t be one of those people who aces their ATAR exam and then snoozes through the exams that really matter ‒ and wake up 30 years from now and realise they’ve received an ‘F’.

Tread Your Own Path!

The Sunday Night Ritual

Hi Scott,

We are two weeks into our ‘Barefoot family experience’. The kids are excited to be doing chores (who would have thought?!), and doubly excited to be watching their money grow in their jars. They are even loving the cooking challenge, and I amazed myself by leaving meal preparation completely up to them.At age 42, this is the first time in my life I have had thousands of dollars in the bank, instead of living week to week. It’s a huge relief to know that “I’ve got this” and, even more importantly, to show my children how to be financially smart for life.

Ben

Hi Ben,

If you’re looking for a way to get a huge reward with very little effort, you’ve found it. You are changing your family tree every Sunday night, mate. That’s what it’s all about, right? Well done!

Scott

The Do-Gooder

Dear Mr Foot,

I do not know if you follow the Facebook groups formed around your books. But there has been a lot of pushback on your idea of the ‘Give Jar’ and kids giving a portion of their money to those in need. Some people cover it up by suggesting you meant the jar is for buying gifts for family or friends. Others reject the idea outright. Is this the state of our country?

Jen

Hi Jen,

People may say I’ve become a do-gooder by getting kids to put some of their pocket money into a Give Jar, but I can tell you it’s got nothing to do with raising a little Bono (who wears sunglasses to the dinner table and lectures everyone about starving kids in Africa).

Rather, it’s the only way I know that you can ‘break the brat’ in your kids. (Well, other than hard work.)

Look, our kids are living through the richest time in history, in one of the richest countries on earth. As a consequence, all the lecturing in the world can’t make them see how good they’ve got it.

But action can.

In fact, a researcher called Tim Kasser did a study called the ‘Materialism Intervention’. He picked a group of spoilt brats and got them to keep a ‘give jar’, donate to people who need it, and do some volunteer work. He also set up a control group of kids who did none of these things.

His research found that kids who had the intervention showed sustained increases in self-esteem over time, whereas their counterparts in the control group experienced decreases in self-esteem. And the best part is, it lasted: 10 months after the initial study, those same ex-brats reported that their wellbeing was still improving.

And it will work for your kids. As a bonus, if you do my ‘volunteer challenge’ as a family, it’ll create memories you’ll cherish in 20 years’ time.

Oh, and I take the Groucho Marx view of Facebook groups: I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.

Scott

Best Kids’ Bank Account?

Hi Scott,

My 14-year-old son wants a debit card. He is a good saver and has a few thousand dollars in his bank account. But he currently saves with BankWest and they have an age restriction of 16 years for debit cards. I am thinking of changing his savings account over to Suncorp, as I think their interest for savings accounts is 2.6%. Any suggestions for institutions that will offer a debit card to a boy of 14 years?

Mandy

Hi Mandy,

Ah, the BankWest Kids Bonus Saver!

It’s like a slippery dip on a hot Summer's day … with a dog turd waiting for you at the end.

It certainly looks good ‒ earn 4.75%***** ... but then you get … asterisked.

* In addition to setting up a BankWest Kids Bonus Saver you also need to set up another Bankwest account, the Children's Savings Account (which has a much lower interest rate).

** You only earn the bonus interest when you deposit $25 to $250 per month and make no withdrawals.

*** In any month that you don’t meet these conditions, the standard interest rate (currently 0.01% p.a.) applies.

**** After 12 months everything over $1 in the account will be swept into your linked Children's Savings Account, “so you can start afresh”, says Bankwest. Yes, you can start afresh … with all your kid’s cash in the lower interest rate Children’s Savings account.

Slippery!

Okay, so the account you mention, Suncorp, pays 1.4%, and a bonus 1.2% ‒ if you deposit at least $20 each month and make no more than one withdrawal each month ‒ so a total of 2.6%. They also allow kids over the age of 11 to get a debit card.It’s okay, I guess.

But I’d be tempted to go with the CUA Youth eSaver, which pays 4% p.a. with no pesky hoops to jump through, and link it to the CUA Everyday Youth Account, which will give him fee-free banking and a debit card for kids over 14.

(Note: I get paid nothing for mentioning CUA, though I do get a kick out of berating BankWest.).

Scott

Reminder: I first wrote about this years ago and highlighted the low costs. Today there are better deals on offer. How do I know? Because my readers constantly email me about them! So before you do anything, do a quick google.